'Snowday' decisions come in wee hours

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BLOOMINGTON, Minn. - The prospect of having Mother Nature enable "skipping" school on Monday was tantalizing to a lot of Minnesota youngsters on the slopes at the Hyland Hills Ski Area on Sunday evening.

The weather had dumped several inches of heavy snow across the Twin Cities Metro area through the day.

Alison Sundem of Edina hoped to "sleep in" if school was called. Her sister, Andrea, intended to "go sledding."

Still, the expectation across the Twin Cities was that classes will go on as scheduled, although, the decision on holding school or not is made in the wee hours of the morning. The safety of school buses on icy roads is normally the deciding factor.

Tonya Stewart Downey, Saint Paul Schools spokesperson, said the district in the Capital City is "Fully expecting classes", but they are also expecting some weather delays.

Janet Swiechichowski, Minnetonka District spokesperson, noted that their decision would not be made until road conditions were checked about 4:30. Then, if a decision were to be made to cancel classes, 19,000 calls would go out automatically in about 15 minutes.

The concern can be for working parents who are left to make sudden arrangements for school-aged children who are then to be home instead of school. Parents at Hyland Hills indicated that they have planned for such a development.

Kevin Sundem, Edina, indicated that the age of his children makes a difference. "Kids are in middle school now, so they are pretty able to handle it and my wife works part time so we have a schedule that accommodates things pretty well."

To the disappointment of most fun-seeking minors, the school districts make every effort to keep classes intact, unless the safety of the students trumps the desire of the district administrators.